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- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
- Creators: Arizona State University. School of Life Sciences. Center for Biology and Society. Embryo Project Encyclopedia.
Description
Schennach (2007) has shown that the Empirical Likelihood (EL) estimator may not be asymptotically normal when a misspecified model is estimated. This problem occurs because the empirical probabilities of individual observations are restricted to be positive. I find that even the EL estimator computed without the restriction can fail to be asymptotically normal for misspecified models if the sample moments weighted by unrestricted empirical probabilities do not have finite population moments. As a remedy for this problem, I propose a group of alternative estimators which I refer to as modified EL (MEL) estimators. For correctly specified models, these estimators have the same higher order asymptotic properties as the EL estimator. The MEL estimators are obtained by the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) applied to an exactly identified model. The simulation results provide promising evidence for these estimators. In the second chapter, I introduce an alternative group of estimators to the Generalized Empirical Likelihood (GEL) family. The new group is constructed by employing demeaned moment functions in the objective function while using the original moment functions in the constraints. This designation modifies the higher-order properties of estimators. I refer to these new estimators as Demeaned Generalized Empirical Likelihood (DGEL) estimators. Although Newey and Smith (2004) show that the EL estimator in the GEL family has fewer sources of bias and is higher-order efficient after bias-correction, the demeaned exponential tilting (DET) estimator in the DGEL group has those superior properties. In addition, if data are symmetrically distributed, every estimator in the DGEL family shares the same higher-order properties as the best member.
ContributorsXiang, Jin (Author) / Ahn, Seung (Thesis advisor) / Wahal, Sunil (Thesis advisor) / Bharath, Sreedhar (Committee member) / Mehra, Rajnish (Committee member) / Tserlukevich, Yuri (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Social media offers a powerful platform for the independent digital content producer community to develop, disperse, and maintain their brands. In terms of information systems research, the broad majority of the work has not examined hedonic consumption on Social Media Sites (SMS). The focus has mostly been on the organizational perspectives and utilitarian gains from these services. Unlike through traditional commerce channels, including e-commerce retailers, consumption enhancing hedonic utility is experienced differently in the context of a social media site; consequently, the dynamic of the decision-making process shifts when it is made in a social context. Previous research assumed a limited influence of a small, immediate group of peers. But the rules change when the network of peers expands exponentially. The assertion is that, while there are individual differences in the level of susceptibility to influence coming from others, these are not the most important pieces of the analysis--unlike research centered completely on influence. Rather, the context of the consumption can play an important role in the way social influence factors affect consumer behavior on Social Media Sites. Over the course of three studies, this dissertation will examine factors that influence consumer decision-making and the brand personalities created and interpreted in these SMS. Study one examines the role of different types of peer influence on consumer decision-making on Facebook. Study two observes the impact of different types of producer message posts with the different types of influence on decision-making on Twitter. Study three will conclude this work with an exploratory empirical investigation of actual twitter postings of a set of musicians. These studies contribute to the body of IS literature by evaluating the specific behavioral changes related to consumption in the context of digital social media: (a) the power of social influencers in contrast to personal preferences on SMS, (b) the effect on consumers of producer message types and content on SMS at both the profile level and the individual message level.
ContributorsSopha, Matthew (Author) / Santanam, Raghu T (Thesis advisor) / Goul, Kenneth M (Committee member) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The Chinese capital market is characterized by high segmentation due to governmental regulations. In this thesis I investigate both the causes and consequences of this market segmentations. Specifically, I address the following questions: (1) to which degree this capital market segmentation is caused by the fragmented regulations in China, (2) what are the key characteristics of this market segmentation, and (3) what are the impacts of this market segmentation on capital costs and resources allocations. Answers to these questions can have important implications for Chinese policy makers to improve capital market regulatory coordination and efficiency. I organize this thesis as follows. First, I define the concepts of capital market segmentation and fragmented regulation based on literature reviews and theoretical analysis. Next, on the basis of existing theories and methods in finance and economics, I select a number of indicators to systematically measure the degree of regulatory segmentation in China’s capital market. I then develop an econometric model of capital market frontier efficiency analysis to calculate and analyze China’s capital market segmentation and regulatory fragmentation. Lastly, I use the production function analysis technique and the even study method to examine the impacts of fragmented regulatory segmentation on the connections and price distortions in the equity, debt, and insurance markets. Findings of this thesis enhance the understanding of how institutional forces such as governmental regulations influence the function and efficiency of the capital markets.
ContributorsJia, Shaojun (Author) / Hwang, Yuhchang (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Hong (Committee member) / Wahal, Sunil (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Mobile applications (Apps) markets with App stores have introduced a new approach to define and sell software applications with access to a large body of heterogeneous consumer population. Several distinctive features of mobile App store markets including – (a) highly heterogeneous consumer preferences and values, (b) high consumer cognitive burden of searching a large selection of similar Apps, and (c) continuously updateable product features and price – present a unique opportunity for IS researchers to investigate theoretically motivated research questions in this area. The aim of this dissertation research is to investigate the key determinants of mobile Apps success in App store markets. The dissertation is organized into three distinct and related studies. First, using the key tenets of product portfolio management theory and theory of economies of scope, this study empirically investigates how sellers’ App portfolio strategies are associated with sales performance over time. Second, the sale performance impacts of App product cues, generated from App product descriptions and offered from market formats, are examined using the theories of market signaling and cue utilization. Third, the role of App updates in stimulating consumer demands in the presence of strong ranking effects is appraised. The findings of this dissertation work highlight the impacts of sellers’ App assortment, strategic product description formulation, and long-term App management with price/feature updates on success in App market. The dissertation studies make key contributions to the IS literature by highlighting three key managerially and theoretically important findings related to mobile Apps: (1) diversification across selling categories is a key driver of high survival probability in the top charts, (2) product cues strategically presented in the descriptions have complementary relationships with market cues in influencing App sales, and (3) continuous quality improvements have long-term effects on App success in the presence of strong ranking effects.
ContributorsLee, Gun Woong (Author) / Santanam, Raghu (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Park, Sungho (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Merton (1987) predicts that idiosyncratic risk can be priced. I develop a simple equilibrium model of capital markets with information costs in which the idiosyncratic risk premium depends on the average level of idiosyncratic volatility. This dependence suggests that the idiosyncratic risk premium varies over time. I find that in U.S. markets, the covariance between stock-level idiosyncratic volatility and the idiosyncratic risk premium explains future stock returns. Stocks in the highest quintile of the covariance between the volatility and risk premium earn an average 3-factor alpha of 70 bps per month higher than those in the lowest quintile.
ContributorsXie, Daruo (Author) / Wahal, Sunil (Thesis advisor) / Mehra, Rajnish (Thesis advisor) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This paper examines dealers' inventory holding periods and the associated price markups on corporate bonds from 2003 to 2010. Changes in these measures explain a large part of the time series variation in aggregate corporate bond prices. In the cross-section, holding periods and markups overshadow extant liquidity measures and have significant explanatory power for individual bond prices. Both measures shed light on the credit spread puzzle: changes in credit spread are positively correlated with changes in holding periods and markups, and a large portion of credit spread changes is explained by them. The economic effects of holding periods and markups are particularly sharp during crisis periods.
ContributorsQian, Zhiyi (Author) / Wahal, Sunil (Thesis advisor) / Bharath, Sreedhar (Committee member) / Coles, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Mehra, Rajnish (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Postnatal skeletal muscle repair is dependent on the tight regulation of an adult stem cell population known as satellite cells. In response to injury, these quiescent cells are activated, proliferate and express skeletal muscle-specific genes. The majority of satellite cells will fuse to damaged fibers or form new muscle fibers, while a subset will return to a quiescent state, where they are available for future rounds of repair. Robust muscle repair is dependent on the signals that regulate the mutually exclusive decisions of differentiation and self-renewal. A likely candidate for regulating this process is NUMB, an inhibitor of Notch signaling pathway that has been shown to asymmetrically localize in daughter cells undergoing cell fate decisions. In order to study the role of this protein in muscle repair, an inducible knockout of Numb was made in mice. Numb deficient muscle had a defective repair response to acute induced damage as characterized by smaller myofibers, increased collagen deposition and infiltration of fibrotic cells. Satellite cells isolated from Numb-deficient mice show decreased proliferation rates. Subsequent analyses of gene expression demonstrated that these cells had an aberrantly up-regulated Myostatin (Mstn), an inhibitor of myoblast proliferation. Further, this defect could be rescued with Mstn specific siRNAs. These data indicate that NUMB is necessary for postnatal muscle repair and early proliferative expansion of satellite cells. We used an evolutionary compatible to examine processes controlling satellite cell fate decisions, primary satellite cell lines were generated from Anolis carolinensis. This green anole lizard is evolutionarily the closet animal to mammals that forms de novo muscle tissue while undergoing tail regeneration. The mechanism of regeneration in anoles and the sources of stem cells for skeletal muscle, cartilage and nerves are poorly understood. Thus, satellite cells were isolated from A. carolinensis and analyzed for their plasticity. Anole satellite cells show increased plasticity as compared to mouse as determined by expression of key markers specific for bone and cartilage without administration of exogenous morphogens. These novel data suggest that satellite cells might contribute to more than muscle in tail regeneration of A. carolinensis.
ContributorsGeorge, Rajani M (Author) / Wilson-Rawls, Jeanne (Thesis advisor) / Rawls, Alan (Committee member) / Whitfield, Kerr (Committee member) / Kusumi, Kenro (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Skeletal muscles arise from the myotome compartment of the somites that form during vertebrate embryonic development. Somites are transient structures serve as the anlagen for the axial skeleton, skeletal muscle, tendons, and dermis, as well as imposing the metameric patterning of the axial musculoskeletal system, peripheral nerves, and vasculature. Classic studies have described the role of Notch, Wnt, and FGF signaling pathways in controlling somite formation and muscle formation. However, little is known about the transformation of myotome compartments into identifiable post-natal muscle groups. Using a mouse model, I have undertaken an evaluation of morphological events, including hypertrophy and hyperplasia, related to the formation of several muscles positioned along the dorsal surface of the vertebrae and ribs. Lunatic fringe (Lfng) deficient embryos and neonates were also examined to further understand the role of the Notch pathway in these processes as it is a modulator of the Notch receptor and plays an important role in defining somite borders and anterior-posterior patterning in many vertebrates. Lunatic fringe deficient embryos showed defects in muscle fiber hyperplasia and hypertrophy in the iliocostalis and longissimus muscles of the erector spinae group. This novel data suggests an additional role for Lfng and the Notch signaling pathway in embryonic and fetal muscle development.
ContributorsDe Ruiter, Corinne (Author) / Rawls, J. Alan (Thesis advisor) / Wilson-Rawls, Jeanne (Committee member) / Kusumi, Kenro (Committee member) / Fisher, Rebecca E. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Geology and its tangential studies, collectively known and referred to in this thesis as geosciences, have been paramount to the transformation and advancement of society, fundamentally changing the way we view, interact and live with the surrounding natural and built environment. It is important to recognize the value and importance of this interdisciplinary scientific field while reconciling its ties to imperial and colonizing extractive systems which have led to harmful and invasive endeavors. This intersection among geosciences, (environmental) justice studies, and decolonization is intended to promote inclusive pedagogical models through just and equitable methodologies and frameworks as to prevent further injustices and promote recognition and healing of old wounds. By utilizing decolonial frameworks and highlighting the voices of peoples from colonized and exploited landscapes, this annotated syllabus tackles the issues previously described while proposing solutions involving place-based education and the recentering of land within geoscience pedagogical models. (abstract)
ContributorsReed, Cameron E (Author) / Richter, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Semken, Steven (Committee member) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The ASU COVID-19 testing lab process was developed to operate as the primary testing site for all ASU staff, students, and specified external individuals. Tests are collected at various collection sites, including a walk-in site at the SDFC and various drive-up sites on campus; analysis is conducted on ASU campus and results are distributed virtually to all patients via the Health Services patient portal. The following is a literature review on past implementations of various process improvement techniques and how they can be applied to the ABCTL testing process to achieve laboratory goals. (abstract)
ContributorsKrell, Abby Elizabeth (Co-author) / Bruner, Ashley (Co-author) / Ramesh, Frankincense (Co-author) / Lewis, Gabriel (Co-author) / Barwey, Ishna (Co-author) / Myers, Jack (Co-author) / Hymer, William (Co-author) / Reagan, Sage (Co-author) / Compton, Carolyn (Thesis director) / McCarville, Daniel R. (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems & Operations Engineering Prgm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05